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August 09, 2012

Egyptian security forces stand by their armored personnel carriers ahead of a military operation in the northern Sinai Peninsula on August 8.

Egyptian state television is reporting renewed clashes between security forces and suspected Islamist militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

The state-owned Nile News television reported clashes outside a police station in the north Sinai town of Al-Arish.

The clashes come a day after the military said an air strike killed 20 militants in a neighboring village.

The air strike – the first in the peninsula for decades – was launched after gunmen attacked a border-guard outpost near the border with Israel on August 5 and killed 16 soldiers.

Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi fired the country's intelligence chief and the North Sinai provincial governor following that attack.